Know Nothing

When ones hope is taken away it serves as a conflict and it makes one feel as if they are worthless.In “Sympathy” Paul Laurence Dunbar talks about a bird that is isolated in a cage from its habitat and makes an effort in trying to escape the cage. In “Caged Bird” Maya Angelou compares a free bird to a caged bird and their how different their lives can be when in two different scenarios. In both of these poems the birds are alike in many ways and also very different. In “Sympathy” and “Caged…

Eight years later and two thousand miles away, Angelou becomes pregnant with the child of a stranger (Angelou 77, 279). Parents object to the book “raising sexual issues without giving them a moral resolution” (Sova 212). The explicit scenes led to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings landing third of the top one hundred banned books on the American Library Association’s 1990-2000 list; it has been challenged publicly 39…

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou describes her coming of age as a mature but insecure black girl in the American South during the 1930s and later on in California during the 1940s. Maya’s parents divorce when she is only three years old and ship Maya and her older brother, Bailey, to live with their paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson, in rural Stamps, Arkansas. Annie, whom they call Momma, runs the only store in the black…

In Maya Angelou’s poem, “Alone”, discusses dark themes that are incredibly relevant to stereotypical poetry. This poem is very appropriately titled “Alone”, because it is about the speaker discussing lonesomeness. She discusses her own loneliness, the loneliness of others, then finally a call for action regarding how to not be lonely. The speaker reminisces about her lonely life using a very melancholy tone, but then shifts into a more blunt tone as the reality of loneliness arises. The…

Question 3: Because Angelou’s description has a strong narrative component, it isn't surprising that there’s a considerable amount of dialogue in the section… What do these imagined scoldings of Momma reveal about young Angelou? How do they relate to Mrs. Flowers’s subsequent “lessons in life”? Angelou’s imagined scoldings of her Momma reveals that she is ashamed of her mom's lack of english when speaking to Mrs. Flowers. Angelou in a way looks up to Mrs. Flowers because,”Mrs. Bertha Flowers…

Maya Angelou once said, “You may encounter many defeats but you must not be defeated.” Born in 1928, shortly after the great depression, Angelou lived in a segregated community. Angelou faces many difficult situations within her life, but manages to overcome them. These experiences impact her writing. Angelou also became very enriched in literature and music due to her experiences. Angelou's writing has been shaped by her different experiences including dealing with segregation, being raped, and…

I Learned I was a Phenomenal Woman Marguerite Johnson later known as Maya Angelou was born on April 4th, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Marguerite Johnson was raised in St. Louis, Missouri as well as Stamps, Arkansas. According to her website, Stamps at the time that she was raised, was the frontier of the South during the 1930s and 1940s when Johnson was growing up, Stamps ran rampant with racial discrimination and physical brutality. Her grandmother from age 4 years old to 8 years old raised…

Maya Angelou and Robert Frost This powerful poem goes really well with this event. Frost and Maya both had different choices, they examined their choices and decided to veer away from the norm and take a different road. Maya was taking the road that not many people would travel. She had many opportunities to go home and go back to Mother but she decided not to and to stay out in the world by herself. Frost and Maya can connect based on the fact that they both had two roads. Frost had a road…

Introduction: Maya Angelou is one of the most renowned influential voices of time. She has over 50 honorary doctorate degrees and became a celebrated poet, memoirist, educator and civil rights activist. Poets Life: Maya Angelou was born on April 4th, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She was born by the name Marguerite Johnson, and throughout her life, she as raised in St. Lousies and stamps Arkansas. Maya Angelou was an African-American, who was very multi-talented as she was an author,…

school. Maya is an inspiration for Melinda. She was banned from the school library for her book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. This book is about racism and trauma, Melinda feels banned just like her and her book. Melinda doesn’t fit in and is being challenged for her traumatic experiences. Maya speaks up about her traumatic experiences and Melinda wishes she could do the same thing. In the book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Maya was also a victim of rape, people are shutting Maya down for…